Port of Dover looks to France to tackle queues as new EU rules come into force

The French border control zone at the port of Dover is being expanded to reduce the risk of queues at peak times as new EU bureaucratic rules come into force.

After the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, Boris Johnson’s government negotiated for British travellers to become “third-country nationals”, subject to a range of restrictions.

Under the EU Entry/Exit System (EES), expected to come into force in the autumn, travellers entering the EU from the UK and other non-EU countries will be required to register their details at the EU border and provide biometric data.

As the government prepares for the change, Home Secretary Seema Malhotra will introduce a statutory instrument to parliament on Monday to allow French border guards to operate in an extended zone at the Port of Dover.

With this, the Ministry of the Interior commits to working with the French government, local authorities and companies to streamline EU border controls at the port.

The change in the law is part of preparations to minimize the risk of traffic disruption. The aim is to create more space to process passengers for a better customer experience.

The Ministry of the Interior is working with the French Ministry of the Interior to adapt border controls between the two countries to take into account the expanded zone.

The port plans to move the location of passport control for passengers boarding the ferry from the Eastern Docks to a new border control zone at the Western Docks.

The port has also made major improvements to its port infrastructure, including the construction of special facilities to carry out the inspections.

There will be 24 kiosks where bus passengers can perform checks and passengers in cars will be registered using agents and tablets.

Work is also underway to support other ports where France carries out immigration controls.

The Eurostar has almost 50 kiosks where passengers can complete checks, spread across three locations in the station.

Eurostar passengers will be affected by the changes (Gareth Fuller/PA) (PA wire)

The Eurotunnel will get more than 100 kiosks and it is estimated that the new checks will add just over five minutes to journey times.

The automated IT system EES aims to speed up border control by replacing the stamping of passports.

It registers non-EU nationals travelling for a short stay, each time they cross the external borders of Schengen countries. Their fingerprints must be scanned and a photo taken.

Ms Malhotra said the checks will be a “big change” at the EU border, so the public should prepare for queues at peak times when the checks are first introduced.

She said that interior ministers are working hard to minimise the risk of excessively long queues.

But she added that “we lost valuable time under the previous government” and that it had not done enough to soften the impact of the change.

“The EU Entry/Exit System has been in the pipeline for a number of years. But instead of doing everything it can to ensure that travellers and businesses moving in and out of Britain are not affected, the previous government appears to have sat back and let others do the hard work that is needed,” she said.